#01 We live once

[I say nothing new in these services, only the old truth, but I want to make it deadly serious for all of us. I say nothing interesting, but true to life! I would prefer not to preach from the pulpit, but to sit and talk directly among you. I would like to talk to you a few times in a row about Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Now, first of all, I want to emphasize just one small part of the whole parable, just one small word, one connective word. It is "and". In the Word we read, "The beggar shall die and..." - "the rich shall die and..." So it is not that one dies: period! It's over! - No! When someone dies, there is no period, not even a comma, but "and..." And "and" means that the sentence is not finished, but continues. But the question is, how does it continue? Let's talk about that now!In recent years, we have not talked much about this question. The proclamation of God's Word has illuminated for us not the other-worldly but the this-worldly aspects of our faith. Rather, it has encouraged believers to find their place in the life of this world. That is why I would now like to emphasise this question very strongly: are you thinking of eternal life? Are you preparing for it? This is not as abstract a question as it may seem, but a very practical, very worldly one, since here on earth, too, it is only in the perspective of that eternal life that one can find one's way in the knowledge of it. Let me illustrate this with an example. It was only possible to see horizontally, and not very far. The taxi took me through the small town and up to my accommodation on the mountainside. I couldn't see anything, only the road section immediately nearby. I was a little disappointed. Is that all? Not as particularly beautiful as they said. There was no horizon. I couldn't imagine what kind of place I was in. It was only the next day, when the fog lifted, the sun came out and the snow-capped peaks shone all around, that I saw how majestically beautiful, how beautiful this world is, surrounded by such magnificent mountains! It is somewhat the same with this life on earth; if a fog of unbelief or doubt settles on the soul and obscures the prospect of eternity, man soon becomes discouraged. He cannot get his bearings right. He does not really know: where is he? What is around him? He lives only for the moment! Without the belief in eternity, there is no perspective for life on earth, the horizon narrows. We can only see the small stretch of the road we are on. The world around us becomes oppressive, without perspective. One thinks that what one is seeing, what one is experiencing: that is all! Oh, but it is not! It only seems so without faith! Life itself is much bigger, more sublime, more powerful than it seems!
I understand this plea of the hymn, "Dispel the mist and see your holy heaven"! Well, that is exactly what Jesus is doing with this parable. The story of the rich man and Lazarus shows the fullness of life. He says: look, there is not only so much life as you see now, but so much of it between birth and death. It's just one part of life, one of the rounds. It is only the earthly part, the part beyond death, only the visible part, only the form of life enclosed in time! But there is another: an unearthly, beyond death part, an invisible part, an eternal and spiritual form of the same life! And these two are connected. It is not that after death there will come another life, but that the same life that was here will be fulfilled. That invisible part is a direct continuation of the life path you are on here and now! Eternity begins here and now for all of us. The invisible and visible parts of life belong together like sowing and reaping. What you sow here, you will reap there. It is in vain to want to reap wheat if one does not sow it now, but concolor! He cannot blame the weather, God or circumstances, but himself. That is what that "and" in our Word means. "The beggar shall die and... Then shall the rich man die, and... ". As if everything up to that point was just a prelude to the sequel. An anteroom with two doors leading in different directions. Because death does not mean closing a door, it means opening a door! But which door opens in front of you?
This summer I received news of the sudden death of a colleague and dear friend. He didn't know he was ill, and now here he is, lying dead in the very church where he preached the Word so often. I thought to myself: well, he is no longer interested in the problem of the European common market, nor in the price of meat, nor in what the gossip in the village says about it - nothing that we make such a big deal about, that gives us so much excitement. This whole visible world is to him as extinct as a burnt-out light bulb. Then it became so shockingly real to me again that there is really only one existential question: if there is eternal life! And how can I expect it? We hear of so many sudden, unexpected deaths these days. Is he dead? But I was talking to him just this morning! He was fine yesterday. Yes, he's dead. A doctor once told me: it's not the sick or the old who die, it's the one who's next! And no one knows who's next, except God. We don't know which one of us is in line. Have you ever faced the question - but really, seriously - if they took your soul tonight, what would happen to you? Because, after all, when God takes someone's soul, it must be given back to them immediately! No one can say: But Lord, I am not ready yet! Especially with my soul I am not ready! But Lord, I'm only just beginning to live! I'm just about to start a new life! It doesn't help if you want to give anything for your soul. All your money, all your goods. If I'd make a vow, if I'd beg, No, Lord, not yet, not yet, give me another year, another month. Nothing matters! I must give it back!
If God calls, are you ready to go and appear before His judgment seat? Someone might say: what a sentimental question that is! What kind of an avatar are these words?! Well, whatever we label it, the Word of God is asking the question: What will happen to you when you leave here? If you have to leave everything you lived for'? If they take your soul? Because as sentimental as it sounds, the truth is that we are all on the road to eternity. God's Word says it this way: "It is finished that a man should die once, and after that the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) Because of my profession, I often visit cemeteries. I read the inscriptions on the gravestones. Then I think about it: Isn't he alive now? Yes, he is! The big question is, where? "Lazarus died and was taken to the bosom of Abraham." - "The rich man died and lifted up his eyes in hell..." One day they will write the same about you: he died! Which will your name then be written in place of: the rich man or Lazarus?
So death at the end of our life is not an ending, not like the period at the end of a sentence that closes the line, but like a colon, which means that there is a continuation, and this continuation is determined by what was said before the colon. Jesus is most explicit that after the colon, life continues in two directions. Up or down. Into light or into darkness. To be included in the glory of God or excluded from it. So there, after the split point, it is finally decided that there is no in-between, no possibility of a new beginning! This is what Jesus is now setting before us in this parable.
Many people say: Let us not talk about death, let us not even think about it. "We'll never die!", the people with the wine jug say. They don't believe it, but they live - at least most people do - as if they will never die. As if that certain dividing point will never happen. Maybe that's how the rich man in the parable lived. So did another rich man in the parable, also spoken of by Jesus. Who had accumulated many, many riches and boasted contentedly, "My soul, you have many possessions laid up for many years, make yourself comfortable, eat, drink and be merry!" (Lk 12,19) He was not a wicked man, but stood before the world as a wise, careful, far-sighted, well-meaning man, who was diligent and skilful in his own profession, and had luck in everything he touched, and succeeded. Yet God calls him a "fool!" The word "fool" in the Word is so astonishing. The literal translation might be: foolhardy. So, apparently, by worldly, human standards, he is a very thoughtful, clever man, who has earmarked his good harvest for many years to ensure himself a quiet life, but yet God says he is a foolish man! Is not the man thoughtless who has his mind on everything, who takes account of everything but the supreme reality of life? That at any moment God may claim his soul! That there is eternal life! There is an invisible part of life! He's ready for anything but this!
It's hurtful, insulting to be called a fool. But woe is me if God calls me a fool! It means that the whole direction of such a life is wrong. Every life, or every stage of life, that does not show that it is preparing for eternity: a life misfired, a time spent foolishly, a life wasted! He calculates everything but God! And his soul! But he who does not reckon with God reckons with all his other reckonings. You can lose your health, your money, your friends, your reputation - all this is nothing compared to what the loss of your soul means. Have you ever really considered what it would mean to die without your soul being in reconciled, reconciled fellowship with God?! Here is the rich man in the parable, how carefree he lived. Every day he rejoiced... Then all at once the light goes out. There on the bed lies a desolate remnant of a man. His weary hands, which were about to grasp for an "eat-me, eat-me", droop helplessly. His glassy eyes are filled with the fear of eternity just opening. He had not expected this! It is not whether one was rich before "and" or poor that decides the stage of life that follows "and".
The Word tells us that God sent the incarnation of His love, Jesus Christ, to this earth so that if anyone believes in Him, he will not perish but have eternal life. What can man give in exchange for His soul? But he need not give anything, for God has already given something for him: Jesus' life! Someone! Jesus! He who truly believes in Him now, and believes that his life, his relationship with people, justifies and authenticates his faith, can count on being able to appear before God with peace of mind when his soul is claimed. For whoever truly believes in Him, not only with his mouth but also with his life, has his sins forgiven, his iniquities atoned for, eternal life is his!
During excavations, ancient Etruscan tombs have been found where the dead had a coin in their hand. The dead thus took with him the fare for which Kháron, the boatman of the underworld, took him across the River Styx to a state of tranquillity beyond death. This Etruscan dead man from 3,000 years ago is a warning to us: that we too must have something in our hands when we die. It would not be good to die empty-handed! You cannot cross over to the other side empty-handed. What can we take with us? No money! No friends or anything else we had on our hands. What then? Jesus says: "He who believes in me, even if he dies, he will live" (John 11:25). He takes the grace! Grace alone! Is this "ransom" already in your hands, in your heart? For on this alone depends what will become of you when you leave here. Do not delay, then, but seek to make sure today, now, that your way to eternal life has been redeemed by Christ!
Does John 5:24 apply to you? Are you the one who hears His word? "He who believes in Him who sent Jesus" - that is, he believes in the God who sent Jesus as Savior! Regarding this question, it is said of a child: Oh he is too young to decide such a question. Later: too careless. Then, at the age of 20-30: too self-conscious. At the age of 30-40: too happy. At 40-50: too busy. Then: too worried. At age 60-70: too old. But be careful, because at any age: it's too late! It's not too late! Get right with God!
Amen
Date: 22 January 1967 (Evangelization)